13stoploss
Active Member
This is my first real thread here, aside from my (heated) introduction to AK. Hopefully this is the right thread for this rebuild, instead of the DIY?
I grew up with ESS in the house. My old man bought a pair of AMT Monitors in 1991 from a guy whose wife made him get rid of them. So, when I got back from my second tour to Iraq (stop lossed) in 2006, Uncle Sam apologized by giving me a nice lump sum paycheck in late 2009. In early 2010, living in Southern California, I bought a pair of AMT Monitors from a guy in Tahoe on eBay for $399 (before the recession, they were selling for $1200-1600 on eBay, and about $800-1000 during this timeframe). He said they worked great (uh huh, rotting foam, "You mean, they're not supposed to be like that?")! and me and my old man drove all the way up there to get 'em, and turned right back around and brought 'em home.
Four new sets of foam surrounds and two new diaphragm replacements later, they were rocking.
OK, that's a pretty laughable video. But they worked!
Fast forward a few years, a cross-continental move, a little bit more capital and better taste, I decided to bi-amp the AMT Monitors with a new old-stock ESS active electronic crossover, a Marantz 2230 receiver powering the low freq's, and a Dynaco ST-70 tube amp powering the high freq's.
My lousy iPhone audio does it no justice, but boy was that a sweet setup.
Anyway, the point of this thread. I sold the Marantz and the Dynaco because I wanted more oomph. I bought a new Emotiva XSP-1 gen2 pre-amp, and I've been saving for a new amp. But then I found these AMT-1a pyramid cabinets for sale on eBay and I noticed the guy lived six miles away. So, I messaged him and offered $80 if his auction didn't sell. He accepted, we met up, and I had a new project! Which means I blew my amp fund on some used foam disc passives and AMT-1a crossovers.
The plan was to ratfock the drivers and AMT Heil from my Monitors for use on the AMT-1a, then sell the rebuilt AMT 1a speakers for brand new ESS driver and passive components, then also buy new AMT Heils. Along the way, things got complicated.
Teaser. Here's when I got everything working, sitting in front of my Klipsch Forte (I), and then I tore it all a part again. Wait, what? Tore a part after THIS?
I grew up with ESS in the house. My old man bought a pair of AMT Monitors in 1991 from a guy whose wife made him get rid of them. So, when I got back from my second tour to Iraq (stop lossed) in 2006, Uncle Sam apologized by giving me a nice lump sum paycheck in late 2009. In early 2010, living in Southern California, I bought a pair of AMT Monitors from a guy in Tahoe on eBay for $399 (before the recession, they were selling for $1200-1600 on eBay, and about $800-1000 during this timeframe). He said they worked great (uh huh, rotting foam, "You mean, they're not supposed to be like that?")! and me and my old man drove all the way up there to get 'em, and turned right back around and brought 'em home.
Four new sets of foam surrounds and two new diaphragm replacements later, they were rocking.
OK, that's a pretty laughable video. But they worked!
Fast forward a few years, a cross-continental move, a little bit more capital and better taste, I decided to bi-amp the AMT Monitors with a new old-stock ESS active electronic crossover, a Marantz 2230 receiver powering the low freq's, and a Dynaco ST-70 tube amp powering the high freq's.
My lousy iPhone audio does it no justice, but boy was that a sweet setup.
Anyway, the point of this thread. I sold the Marantz and the Dynaco because I wanted more oomph. I bought a new Emotiva XSP-1 gen2 pre-amp, and I've been saving for a new amp. But then I found these AMT-1a pyramid cabinets for sale on eBay and I noticed the guy lived six miles away. So, I messaged him and offered $80 if his auction didn't sell. He accepted, we met up, and I had a new project! Which means I blew my amp fund on some used foam disc passives and AMT-1a crossovers.
The plan was to ratfock the drivers and AMT Heil from my Monitors for use on the AMT-1a, then sell the rebuilt AMT 1a speakers for brand new ESS driver and passive components, then also buy new AMT Heils. Along the way, things got complicated.
Teaser. Here's when I got everything working, sitting in front of my Klipsch Forte (I), and then I tore it all a part again. Wait, what? Tore a part after THIS?